Dragon Road
by Captain Space
Summary: What secret was Gedon planning to unlock with Amazon's completed armlet? What became of Super-1's role in the space program? And just what is Dragon Road? (Takes place after ZX.) (Ideas now folded into Convergence, check that story!)
1. Chapter 1: Blitzkrieg

**Dragon Road**

 _(Note: "ZX" is officially supposed to be pronounced "Zet Cross". For reasons. But in any case, they all say it "Zecross". One or two more brief translation notes at the end, in case the way I write the names confuses anybody or something.)_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Blitzkrieg**

Murasame Ryo had had an eventful couple of years, and had come to expect just about anything. He'd been kidnapped and remodelled into a superhuman cyborg by an evil organisation, lost his sister, lost his memories, regained his memories, met a group of international superheroes and joined their ranks, defeated his longtime rival, and fought to destroy the organisation that remodelled him in the first place. He wasn't sure if anything could surprise him at this point.

Opening his cupboard to find an upside-down feral jungle man, though, managed to give him pause.

"…Amazon?" Ryo stepped back, letting the other man jump down out of the cupboard and stand up, smiling.

"Ryo! Hello. Long time." Amazon shook his shaggy hair out of his face, grinning.

"Almost a year, yeah…look, what are you doing in my house?"

Amazon blinked. "Oh! Yes. Was following…something."

"Something?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Smelled like…Beastman."

 _Beastmen…_ Ryo did his best to recall the brief history Shiro and the others had given him. _Gedon's monsters…Amazon fought them back when he was alone._ "And you tracked it here?"

"Been a while…been days." Amazon began to prowl around the kitchen, sniffing random objects. "First picked up trail…back at hiding place. Place where I kept…" He held up the ornate armband clamped around his upper left arm. "…other half."

"Right, there was something about that thing…" Ryo scratched his head. "Sorry, it's been a while since I was told all this…your enemies were trying to unite your half with theirs…you got their half when you defeated them, and hid it? And now someone found it?"

Amazon nodded. "Gone. Hiding place…" He paused, searching for the word. "…broken? Destroyed. Followed trail here."

"And you were in my cupboard because…?"

The peculiar man held up a half-eaten banana. "Got distracted," he admitted.

At this point, their conversation was cut short by a thunderous noise; Amazon grabbed Ryo and tackled him to the ground as a wall of green light engulfed everything from waist height up, before rapidly descending until they could feel the deadly heat at a distance of inches. Then, just as abruptly, it was gone.

Ryo stood, his ears still ringing, staggering clear of the wreckage that had formerly been his house. He was vaguely aware of Amazon next to him, seeming much less disoriented than he was—though as his senses returned, Ryo began to notice a subtle change in his comrade. His body exuded a strange sense of menace, his voice became oddly strained and there was a twitchiness to his movements; the animal, it seemed, was fighting to overcome the man in him. "Here!" Amazon growled.

"Here…the person you were following…?" Ryo mumbled.

Amazon continued to pull the dazed Ryo away from the smouldering rubble. "Danger!"

"Hmm…" A voice drifted down to them from above; a hovering figure in black slowly became visible through the smoke, floating down and alighting on the ground in front of them. "I used too much power…I could've killed you without even meeting you. That'd be no fun." Her long blonde hair draped over her leather jacket, thick goggles concealing her eyes.

 _Her dress sense…kinda reminds me of Mikage…_ Ryo shook his head, trying to stop memories of that battle intruding into the present; he still wasn't quite thinking clearly.

Amazon made a guttural noise, rising from the back of his throat. "You…!"

"Yes, me." She smiled, holding up a metal device almost identical to Amazon's. "You're looking for this, I imagine. Thanks for bringing your half to me—I was going to come for you after I dealt with Mr. Murasame here." She saw Ryo's expression. "Yes, I know who you are, you and Amazon both. But don't let me keep you at a disadvantage—my name's Miasma."

Taking only a moment to crouch, Amazon sprang at her. She stepped back, catching his swiping arm with a gloved hand and holding it still, his muscles straining against the iron grip. "I guess they don't teach chivalry in the jungle…" she sighed, tossing him to the ground. "In any case, don't come at me like an ordinary human."

Amazon rose, his wordless growl growing in volume, chest rising and falling, his voice finally reaching a crescendo. He flung his arms out, fingers still curled, claw-like, striking at the air—and it began. A dim light appeared in the depths of his eyes, rapidly growing until they shone a demonic red. The bestial noises coalesced into a voice, his arms working rhythmically back and forth—

"A—MA—ZOOOOOON!"

His image split and fractured, a great light bursting forth from his armlet and obscuring him from view. When it receded, and his figure melted back into one again, the man had become a monster. A green and orange creature, claws tipping his fingers, sleek blades sweeping back from his wrists and the back of his head, great staring red eyes topping his fanged snout. His hands wove back and forth, mimicking a sideways swipe at some imaginary enemy.

Miasma smiled humourlessly. "Yes, there it is. Come!"

Ryo reached a hand out. "Amazon, wait—let me help—" He stumbled, his head still spinning. _Damn it…can't transform like this…_

"Gii-gii-gii!" Amazon cried, launching himself at Miasma again, his claws hissing through empty air as she sidestepped. He spun, lashing out with a kick as he did so, and she caught his ankle, throwing it up and backwards and dumping him on his head. He rolled away and began to circle, now wary. "Gii-gii!"

"Hideous creature…" she mumbled, still spinning the stolen half of the armlet around one finger.

"Give!" he yelled, rushing in again, raising one arm high and bringing the blades protruding from his forearm down towards her. " _Dai-Setzudan!_ " She brought her own arm up to block, the blades tearing through her sleeve but catching on her skin, rebounding painfully—they were connected to his bone structure.

"Satisfied?" She shoved him around in a half-circle, taking hold of his half of the armlet with one hand and his shoulder with the other, before giving a great heave, tearing the metal band free with an ear-piercing rending sound.

Amazon howled, collapsing and writhing around on the ground, reverting back to his human form with a violent lurch.

Ryo finally managed to clear his head, jumping over and standing between Miasma and her victim.

"There's no need for that," she laughed. "I've got what I want from him. But I _do_ have business with you, Murasame Ryo." He didn't reply. "I wanted to see the power of the one they call ZX…I was told he's the strongest of the Kamen Riders that protect this planet." She gave a dismissive wave. "So go on, hurry up and transform."

"You want ZX?" He gave a cruel grin. "You got him." He thrust his arms out to the right, forming a half-cross, then slowly rotated them until they were at opposites—before finally withdrawing his right and pumping it across his body. " _Hen-_ SHIN!"

A burst of light emerged from his belt, and then the familiar metallic sensation engulfed his body as he assumed his true form—the red-and-silver cyborg, ZX.

"Yes, that's better…" Miasma cracked her knuckles. "I can only spare you a few minutes, so come at me."

ZX lowered his stance, taking a cautious step forwards. "As if you're making allowances for me…"

"That's exactly what's happening," she said. "It's not part of my mission to brawl with humans…you should feel honoured."

"Hard, when I have no idea who you are." Ryo moved swiftly in, closing the distance between them and preparing to attack; before he could get close enough, her hand snaked out, aimed for his face. He dived to the side, only partially avoiding the blow, the impact spinning him in a full circle. He leapt back, filling the air between them with shuriken, which stabbed into the dirt one after the other, Miasma appearing in mid-air behind him.

 _Fast—!_ He spun in the air, bringing his leg around. Evidently she hadn't been expecting him to counterattack from this angle, and he succeeded in planting his foot directly in her abdomen. "ZX— _Kick!_ "

She rocked slightly—before straightening back up, unaffected, reaching out and dragging him to the ground as she fell, tossing him away. "Don't tell me that's your best." She began to stroll towards him as he struggled to his feet. "Here, try mine…it nearly killed you earlier." She brought her hands together in front of her, a roaring green flame bursting to life between them. " _Hakai-Plasma!_ "

The flame leapt out, engulfing ZX and obscuring him from view, boiling the ground around where he'd stood and sending great pillars of smoke into the sky. She lowered her hands, brushing her hair back out of her face and fighting a feeling of disappointment. _Well, what did I expect from a human? Even a modified human…_

"Wait, you…!" ZX stumbled out of the dying fires, gasping for breath through his mask, his metallic suit blackened and scorched. His hands curled into fists, and he stood straighter. "I'm not…finished with you!" As he spoke, a red light began to fill him from within, leaking out into the air around him.

"You're tougher than your house," she joked, but behind the goggles, her eyes flicked back and forth with a new alertness. _What is this light…?_

Ryo tried to think clearly through the pain. _I only hit her with a surprise attack before…with that speed…all right…_ He braced himself, before speeding towards her in a slight arc, coming around with a clearly-telegraphed punch. She prepared to block, but at the last moment he yanked his legs up and thrust his upper body backwards, turning himself fully horizontal and dropping to the ground, skidding along underneath her; as he passed, his arm moved quickly down to something on his leg, detaching it before tossing it back up at her.

Once he was past her, he rolled away, coming back up just as she caught the thing he'd thrown and examined it—a bomb. A ripple of emotion passed across her face, and she hurled it to the ground, leaping straight upwards to avoid the explosion, managing it by inches. Then, just as she was regaining her bearings, there was ZX, barrelling towards her through the air, the red light brighter than ever, catching her off-guard again and smashing his foot into the same spot as before, roaring, "ZX—KICK!"

Miasma gasped, half-aware that she was crashing to earth, more overwhelmed by the realisation that a warrior of Earth had caused her pain. She rocked to her feet, watching ZX land in front of her—he was unable to stay standing for more than a few seconds, clearly having given everything he had already, his body's glow flickering out as he fell.

 _The same technique…but much stronger than before…_ Miasma examined her fallen foe. _So that light means…_

"Guh…" ZX tried to raise his head, reaching a shaking hand out towards her ankle.

She kicked it away, grinning, a small trickle of blood running down her chin as she did so. "Don't strain yourself. I'm out of time to play with you. You managed to draw the blood of an Ascendant warrior…be happy with that." She began to walk off, muttering to herself. "With both halves, I could open the portal here, but…that would never do…our capital world, and no other, is fit to host it." She tapped a button on a wrist-mounted device of some kind, and a sleek, canopied vehicle materialised next to her; she hopped in, and rose towards the heavens, vanishing behind the clouds within moments.

Ryo groaned, finally allowing himself to return to human form, and made his way towards Amazon, who was now leaning against a withered tree and taking short, rasping breaths. "How are you holding up?" Ryo asked.

"Was told…" the wounded man managed. "If Amazon…loses armlet…Amazon…will die." With that, he slumped forwards onto his ally's shoulder—still breathing, for now, Ryo noted with some relief. His first thought was, _I have to get him to a doctor,_ but that trailed off as soon as he realised how ridiculous a notion it was. _And what doctor will know how to treat 'loss of mystical life-giving artifact'?_

 _Another Rider might know Amazon better…might know what to do…who, though? I only really know three of them well—and of them, Shiro and Joji are pretty much ghosts._

 _Which just leaves…_

* * *

" _Check 1: Change mechanism—OK."_

Oki Kazuya took a deep breath, letting the scanner scroll down his body, analysing the robotic components with painstaking slowness.

" _Check 2: Energy mechanism—OK."_

He reminded himself it was important to undergo regular checks. He did, after all, represent a huge investment on the part of the American and Japanese governments. The cyborg Super-1—the face of the new space program.

" _Check 3: Power mechanism—OK."_

The scan finished, Kazuya stepped out from behind the apparatus, rushing into the next room and downing a glass of water—at which point the door was kicked in, and a man he'd only met once stumbled in carrying a man he'd met twice, Ryo propping Amazon against the wall and leaning back, panting.

Kazuya blinked, slowly setting his glass down, saying nothing. After a moment's observation, he noticed the lighter pink band of flesh on Amazon's upper arm, and instantly realised the problem. He helped them both up, his smallish frame belying his strength, and led them into the room he'd just left. "After the other Riders helped me against the Dogma Kingdom," he explained, leading the barely-conscious Amazon to the scanner and helping him stand behind it, "I programmed this to work with other modified humans besides me. Amazon is a strange case—even he doesn't remember exactly what was done to him, and I'm not sure if there even is a fully-scientific explanation—but we should be able to learn at least something."

He leapt across the room, his boundless energy showing with every movement, firing up the machine again and turning back to observe the results.

"Check 1: Change mechanism—OK."

Kazuya's brow wrinkled. "What…?"

"Check 2: Energy mechanism—danger!"Check 3: Power mechanism—danger!"

Vaguely acknowledging that the scan was finished, Amazon allowed himself to collapse into a nearby chair, shivering. "Kazuya…?"

"It's strange…" Kazuya scrolled through the generated data. "It said 'change mechanism OK', that doesn't seem right…ah!" He tapped the screen. "I see! After all your years wearing that armlet, your body's absorbed plenty of the energy it gives out! There's enough left in you for you to transform…" He held up a cautioning finger. "But only once."

"Amazon said he'd die without the armlet," Ryo added, having caught his breath. "I'm guessing, when that energy runs out…" Kazuya nodded. "So transforming probably isn't a good idea," Ryo continued. "You'll just use up more of that energy and cut down on what time you have left."

"Actually, it's not that simple," Kazuya countered. "It will do that, but it'll also stabilise his remaining energy, slowing the rate he loses it at. Plus, he'll be much more durable, and his ability to survive in his low-energy state will increase. All told…" He rocked back and forth on his heels, his rounded face twisting in concentration as he ran the mental calculations. "It's hard to call, but my best guess is he has about a day to live like this, about a week if he transforms. But he'd have to stay like that."

"Amazon…will live!" Amazon was on his feet, swaying as he raised his crossed arms in front of him, a fierce will blazing in his eyes. "A—MA—ZON!" His voice seemed to be reinforced by a thousand others, echoing down the halls and sending vibrations into their bones.

A—MA—ZON!

 _AMAZON!_

Once more, the wild man assumed his bestial Rider form, and seemed to instantly recover his strength, straightening up.

"So…we have a week." Ryo moved into the centre of the room, quickly explaining what had befallen them to Kazuya.

Kazuya nodded, a knowing look crossing his face. "So, you came to me since you knew I worked here at the NASA base, and you hoped I could help get you into space after her?"

"Uh…" Ryo shuffled his feet, looking away. "No, actually…you're just the only one I knew where to find…"

"…huh." Kazuya scratched his head. "I feel less special now. Ah well! You're in luck, 'cause space is my field of expertise!"

"Will NASA just let you have a spaceship?"

"Of course not!" Kazuya gave a warm smile. "So we're gonna steal one."

"Kazuya…" Amazon gave a concerned look—or at least appeared to; it was hard to tell through the monstrous visage. He knew Kazuya's heart lay with this project; it had always been his dream to see humanity advance to the stars. This could set that dream back by a matter of years.

"It's decided, Amazon. Don't worry." Kazuya turned to Amazon and made an odd two-handed gesture; Amazon nodded, returning it. Ryo raised an eyebrow. "It's Amazon's sign of friendship," Kazuya explained, laughing a little. "When he first came to Japan, before he could speak a word of human language, it was all he had to tell friend from foe."

"More to the point…" Ryo said, sticking his hands in his pockets, "does humanity even have a ship capable of following Miasma across space? And even if we do, how are we gonna track her?"

"If she has the armlet, it'll leave a trail of energy for us to follow—energy identical to the kind I just scanned in Amazon's body." Kazuya went over to the phone in the corner of the room. "As for the first question, I'll explain when we get there. We should head over while it's still dark. First, though, I need to call in some muscle."

Having dialled the number, he waited a couple of seconds until the line clicked on. "Hello! Tachibana Racing Club? Is Jo Shigeru still working there? …yes, I know what time it is…yes, I know how he gets, this is important…Oki Kazuya…what do you mean you've never heard of—ah! My other name…it's Super-1. Yes, that one. Tell him, centre of the base, expect resistance. Yes. Thank you." He laid the receiver down. "He'll be here soon. Let's be ready to take off by the time he does."

* * *

Obviously they'd be detected upon take-off, but to avoid having to hurt too many Japanese and American government personnel, they decided to attempt to remain unseen for as long as possible. With Kazuya's security clearance, they were able to quickly penetrate the base he lived only a minute or so outside of. If they encountered any patrolling night-guards, Amazon would steal away into the shadows, then drop on the guards' heads from the ceiling a moment later, silently rendering them unconscious.

They proceeded in this way into the heart of the base, emerging from a long, low building onto a large, open flat dotted with towers—and there, silhouetted against the roving floodlights, the ship. Sleek, black and totally unlike any vessel humanity had ever produced.

"What… _is_ that?" Ryo whispered.

"You were right," Kazuya answered. "No Earth-built ship is yet capable of interstellar flight, and probably won't be for a long time. But a couple of years back, around when I first became Super-1, Earth was attacked by a force from…well, beyond."

Ryo frowned. "Aliens?"

Kazuya nodded. "They were opposed by a more benevolent alien being, who created a group of warriors known as Denziman—they seemed to have defeated the invaders, but it fell to a Japanese covert operations unit called Sun Vulcan to deliver the killing blow a year later. And, well…all those battles left a lot of wreckage lying around." He indicated the ship. "This, for instance, we've been fixing up for a while now. Should be fully-functional."

"Then…the importance of this to the space program must be…" Ryo said quietly. _Then this is why Amazon was hesitant…_ "I'm sorry you had to do this."

Kazuya shrugged, keeping his face turned away. "We do what we have to. The security cameras have blind spots—follow me."

The ship was completely self-sufficient, and only took a few minutes to prepare for take-off. "One problem, though," Kazuya said, leading them towards the cockpit. "Because of the ease you could otherwise fly off in this thing, there's a failsafe to stop any one person taking off without proper authorisation—and that has to include me. There's a sort of electronic lock fitted, and each researcher only knows part of the code. I plan on overloading it, but it's designed to withstand more of a charge than I can generate."

"I'm going to assume you've thought of something." Ryo glanced over behind him—Amazon hadn't been speaking much, but seemed to be holding up fine. _Calm down,_ Ryo reminded himself. _We've got a week._

"Yup…it's why I called in help." A sudden crash, and the roar of engines, came from across the base. "And yeah, this is why it was important we already be ready for take-off. Subtlety isn't Shigeru's strong suit, and security will be all over us in a minute."

A minute or so later, a barrier exploded outwards and four motorbikes roared through, swerving to a halt as a wave of security guards emerged from various surrounding buildings, swarming towards them. Just as they were raising guns, however, a streak of light emerged from the lead bike's rider, wrenching the weapons from their hands and tossing them to the ground. The denim-jacket-clad man who'd emitted it, and the tomboyish woman to his right, dismounted with a leap and waded into hand-to-hand combat, dispatching the entire group in a few short seconds, springing back on their bikes and joining the other two in driving straight up the opening ramp.

As the three already-embarked Riders descended to meet them, this man, clearly Shigeru, was slipping on gloves, but not quite fast enough that Ryo didn't notice his hands—they were metal, and ringed with odd grooves. Only when his gloves were on did he shake hands with his ally.

"Twelve! Think I beat you that time," she said with a grin.

He scratched the back of his head. "Hard to say, Yuri, I kinda lost count…"

"You liar!" she laughed, before turning to the other Riders. "We brought your bikes, so, y'know, you're welcome." Indeed, Shigeru had ridden in on his own, but Yuri and the other two—a middle-aged man and a woman in a biker helmet—had ridden in on Amazon, Kazuya and Ryo's vehicles.

"Uh, thanks—" Kazuya began.

Shigeru clapped his hands together, cutting Kazuya off. "All right! I'm grumpy enough from having to get up at this hour, so let's get going already!" He turned from one of his companions to the next. "Yuri…Michi…old man…thanks for the help. I hate to leave you here, but it's a hell of a lot more dangerous coming with us."

"We can help!" Yuri protested.

"Sorry…this is one of those 'no-humans' things. Y'know, I didn't ask you guys to help me fight the Great Leader…this could be up there with that." He gave a slight bow. "I don't know when I'll be back. See ya."

"Come on." The older man motioned for the other two to follow him, and reluctantly they did so. "The jeep's waiting outside, quickly now."

Shigeru remained in place, staring outwards, even after the ramp closed. "And if they get caught?" he wondered aloud.

"Then we'll sort it out when we get back," Kazuya said firmly. "I'll take full responsibility. Now come on, I need you to help me get past a failsafe." He slid back a panel in the wall, revealing one of many ports around the ship into which electricity could be transferred. "The amount of electricity needed to jump-start this thing is more than I can generate…"

"Not a problem," Shigeru said with a grin, snapping out of his reverie and jabbing a thumb at himself. "The electric human, Stronger, at your service!"

Kazuya nodded to Ryo and Amazon. "You two had better get back up and strap in." He noticed a flicker of disappointment on Ryo's face. "Something wrong?"

"Well, it's…" Ryo took a few seconds to reply. "All right…I guess...I wanted to see some of my seniors transform."

"Heheh, that's a bit childish of you, Ryo. We can show you another time."

"Well, I—" Ryo began, sounding flustered.

Kazuya waved this away, his odd earnestness returning. "No, don't worry! I'm actually glad…I was starting to think you were serious all the time."

Shigeru shoved Ryo and Amazon back towards the ladder. "Heartwarming later! Get ready!"

Ryo nodded, following Amazon up into the cockpit and leaping into the nearest seat, bucking himself in. Amazon's back-crest, head-spikes and generally odd Rider form made it rather difficult for him to do the same, and after ending up practically upside-down attempting to strap in, he gave up, leapt up to the ceiling and dug in his claws, scrabbling for footholds.

Ryo shook his head. _I still don't get that guy…_ At this point, though, their comrades downstairs had evidently begun to do their thing, vast banks of lights blinking to life as the failsafe broke.

* * *

" _Elec Hand!_ "

" _Electro-Fire!_ "

* * *

Kazuya and Shigeru were already back to their normal state as they rushed into the cockpit, Kazuya diving into the pilot's chair as banging came from the outside of the hatch. His hands danced across the controls, his sweat-drenched face a mask of concentration.

Shigeru grabbed the intercom, his voice emerging from the megaphones surrounding the launch site. "Takeoff in 10! Anyone don't wanna be quick-fried, get gone!" Evidently his advice was heeded, as the banging stopped.

Then ten seconds became five, became zero.

Then there was a roar from beneath them and a great, crushing pressure from above.

Then it was blue all around.

Then blue became black.

Then the Earth shrank off into the distance behind them, finally being lost to view.

Less than a minute had elapsed from liftoff. They were still accelerating.

Ryo finally exhaled.

A huge grin was still plastered over Shigeru's face. "Hell, that's fast," he breathed.

Kazuya nodded happily. "I worked hard on restoring this. Those aliens knew their stuff."

"We'll keep it safe," Ryo promised.

"One week…I've picked up Miasma's trail already. I don't know what kind of ship she's got, but it's already at its destination…it'll take us three days to arrive. Hang in there until then, Ama…" Kazuya trailed off, glancing back; Amazon was flattened against the wall, mumbling groggily. Kazuya shook his head. "Amazon, this is why you strap in for launch…"

Amazon gave a thumbs-up, staggering back over to them.

* * *

"They've followed you…the Earth natives."

"The modified humans?"

"Yes. You said one of them displayed Awakened-class power?"

"For a moment, yes. The others should be weaker, if my information is correct, but they are still unknowns."

"Interesting…but there are larger matters at hand."

"Agreed. We will dispose of them en-route. Dragon Road will be completed, and soon; nothing must be allowed to oppose this."

* * *

 _Okay, so a couple quick translation notes:_

 _First, I write Japanese names family name, then given name; this on the logic that that's how they'd actually refer to each other, so it kind of makes sense to me. I do understand why some people flip the names though, and I don't think it's wrong or anything. I just prefer not to myself._

 _Second, I leave a couple words untranslated; the "Kamen" in "Kamen Rider" (translated would be "Masked Rider") I don't change because in Japan they say it half-Japanese and half-English, i.e. they still say "Rider" in English, so to me it seems like "Kamen Rider" is what the name is meant to sound like. So I leave it as it is to give us the same half-translated sense that they get._

 _Another word I don't translate is "Henshin" ("transform"), on the somewhat less-logical reason that it sounds cooler that way. But aside from that, it's a word that's become kind of synonymous with the series. The whole genre of tokusatsu that Kamen Rider belongs to is known to a lot of Western fans as "Henshin Heroes". So yeah._

 _Finally, I leave attack names as they are. This is on the same basis that I don't translate "Kamen Rider"; since some attack names are already in English ("Rider Kick" and so forth), it's again that half-translated sense that they get over there, which I think leaving them as they are preserves. Also because there is no way of translating "Dai-Setzudan" that doesn't sound really dumb. The best attempt I've seen is "Great Cleave", but that's a lawsuit from the makers of D &D just waiting to happen._

 _Oh, one more thing—obviously not everybody has an encyclopaedic knowledge of every season. So to save you guys a lot of Googling, here's quick explanations of stuff I mentioned in passing:_

 _Shiro: Kazami Shiro/Kamen Rider V3._

 _Joji: Yuki Joji/Riderman._

 _Mikage: Ryo's rival, Mikage Eisuke, remodelled into a cyborg by the evil group Badan at the same time as Ryo was; when Ryo rebelled against Badan, he ended up fighting and killing Mikage._

 _Denziman and Sun Vulcan: The fourth and fifth Super Sentai series. By the end of its run, Sun Vulcan served as a direct sequel to Denziman, involving many members of the same villainous alien clan the Denziman team fought, and continuing some other story threads besides._

 _Tachibana Racing Club: Hang-out, in various forms (sometimes even as a restaurant) for Kamen Riders #1, #2, V3 and X. Its owner, Tachibana Tobei, was mentor for all of them, plus Amazon and Stronger, and they all affectionately refer too him as "old man" (so he's the guy who was with Shigeru when he turned up)._

 _Yuri and Michi: Friends of Kamen Rider #2 and Tobei; the former does karate, the latter is a motorcyclist._

 _Great Leader: The shadowy voice behind most of the organisations that fought against the first seven Riders (up to Stronger); turned out to be an alien organism. Escaped into space at the end of Stronger's series before briefly returning at the end of the ZX special and revealing itself to also be the head of Badan._


	2. Chapter 2: Lightning

**Chapter 2: Lightning**

 _(Kind of an odd title, huh? While it certainly fits the events of this chapter, that's actually not the reason I named it that, and in fact it's more the other way around. I'm wondering if anyone will spot what it is and if so, when. Future titles may provide more clues.)_

 _I don't know exactly how long this is going to continue…I have a few potential story arcs in mind. There is a distinct possibility of a time-skip somewhere along the line jumping forwards a couple of years, and then maybe we'll see Black or RX. (I'm not against using Heisei stuff on principle, it's just that…wow this would have to go on for a while to do that.)_

* * *

They settled into a fairly relaxed rhythm by the end of the first day. Kazuya would laze around the cockpit, making small adjustments to the ship's course and checking that everything was running smoothly. Amazon would do impromptu sprints, often on the ceiling or bouncing between walls, to work off the huge amount of energy his body was generating. Shigeru would find something to use as a punching bag, then destroy it within a few minutes (there is something to be said for metal hands that discharge electricity on unshielded contact), or alternatively roam the ship, loudly proclaiming how bored he was. Ryo, meanwhile, spent most of his time trying to keep himself and everyone else sane; making sure no-one disturbed Kazuya, finding Shigeru non-essential things to punch, kicking Amazon out of the kitchen before he could completely empty the fridge, and occasionally dive-tackling him when one of his workouts took him too close to a vital part of the ship's inner workings.

The ship's internal clock informed them that it was the dawn of the third and final day of their voyage when something finally happened. In a way, this was a relief, but an unexpected event is almost never a good thing in space travel, doubly so when the event involves a small fleet of arrow-like fighters rising from behind cover of a large asteroid and opening fire.

Everyone piled into the cockpit, finding Kazuya tugging at the controls like a man possessed, hurling the ship into frantic evasive manoeuvres.

"Don't we have any weapons on this thing?" Shigeru growled, staggering across the wildly-pitching floor to their pilot.

"We do," Kazuya replied through gritted teeth, banking hard to the right, streams of laser-fire lancing past where they'd just been. "This _was_ a warship. And even if it's not officially a military project, the government are hardly going to _remove_ weapons."

"…so?" Shigeru prompted.

"So, the weapons systems are what our pursuers took out with their first volley. Evidently they know this model of ship."

"Figures. What can I do?"

"Well, you can be quiet and let me concentrate," Kazuya said, his usual mellow demeanour gone for the time being. "Or I can open the airlock and throw you at them, that might work."

"Just concentrate," Shigeru snapped.

Something caught Ryo's eye—he rushed over to the edge of the console, bringing up a small window at the corner of the large observation screen, connecting it to the hull camera feed and aiming it at one of their pursuers before zooming in all the way. _That symbol…_ There was no mistaking it.

"It's Badan…" he said, his face grim. Badan; the group that had kidnapped him, taken his humanity, tried to brainwash him…taken the only family he'd had left. The scars in his psyche were still healing, and seeing that emblem again, they felt pretty damn raw.

"Badan, out here?" Shigeru grunted. "Not surprised, really. Great Leader of Shocker, Delza, all those groups, turned out to be an alien an' ran back to space in '75…then swung back for a bit to gloat about how he was behind Badan too, around when we met you."

"Does this mean Miasma was part of—" Ryo began, before being tossed across the room as a great impact rocked the ship; with a shudder, the engines died and about half the lights flickered off. Amazon crouched in the corner of the room, hissing.

"This falls firmly in the 'not good' category, then?" Ryo asked.

Kazuya nodded. "We're drifting, and they're coming around for another attack. Okay then…" His hands weaved in front of him in a complex pattern, before forming a circle in front of his waist. A low rumble emanated from his body as he slowly moved them away, finally spinning them a half-turn clockwise. " _Henshin!_ "

The seal on his bulky metallic belt popped open, revealing an already-spinning rotor; energy surged out of this, covering his body in white light. When it faded, he had assumed his true form—black and silver body—piercing red eyes—ornate tasselled gloves.

"The space exploration cyborg, Super-1," he intoned. "Capable of surviving in the depths of the ocean or outer space…I'll go out and fight. You guys check the extent of the damage, see if you can repair anything."

Shigeru snorted, sticking his hands in his pockets, evidently not comfortable with being sidelined.

"He's the only one who can do this." Ryo put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on."

"Feh, okay, whatever…"

Kazuya clambered out onto the hull, the hatch hissing shut behind him. _All right…_ He glanced over to where distant starlight glinted off the banking fighters. _…I count thirteen._

" _Change—Elec Hand!_ " He crossed his arms in front of him, fingers splayed out, and after a brief flash his gloves changed, becoming heavier, metallic, yellow highlights on blue.

As the incoming fleet came to within his range, he raised his hands, emitting a concentrated burst of energy, which arced through space over to his first target—it emitted a shower of sparks, careening off to the side and entering into an uncontrolled tailspin.

He ran down the hull as they returned fire, making sure to draw their fire away from any more vital systems—he wasn't quite fast enough, a near miss throwing him off his feet. The ship had a localised gravity field that extended just past the hull, so he didn't fall away into the void, but he was no longer a moving target. He rolled to the side, bracing himself as a cannonade of concentrated fire hammered down around him.

He was up and moving again as soon as he could manage, firing again but scoring only a glancing hit as the fighter he'd targeted executed a neat aileron roll. "I'm hard-pressed out here…how's the engine?"

"Not good," came Ryo's voice through the communicator in Super-1's helmet. "The damage is pretty extensive. Shigeru's…" There came a muffled bang. "…uh…working on it."

"Keep me posted," Kazuya replied, ducking and sliding under a particularly well-aimed bolt. "I've still got twelve hostiles, and I can't keep this up forever…" He spent a few seconds spraying shots wildly, scattering the cluster of attacking ships and giving himself a moment to catch his breath.

A pair were already coming back around, diving towards him, jinking left and right every half-second. _Those two pilots are skilled…can't nail 'em with the Elec Hand like that. But, they've moved into close range now...this should work._

" _Change—Thermal Hand!_ " His gloves' form shifted again, becoming green and asymmetrical. As the pair of fighters approached, he held both up, a jet of flame emerged from the left hand, an equally-fierce freezing spray from the right; the area-effect attacks caught the ships with ease, one freezing solid and spinning off into space, no longer under its pilot's control, the other briefly going up in flames as the highly-oxygenated liquid coated it, before the fire reached a fuel tank and the fighter's back half exploded, tearing it apart.

He'd been standing still for too long—a pair of shots caught him directly in the back, driving him to his knees. _Gotta…move…!_ Another volley was already on its way, and the entire area around him was about to be reduced to molten slag. _Only one way to go…_ He kicked off the ground, jumping straight into the air, angling himself directly at the ship that had shot him, now passing by overhead.

 _No time for subtlety…_ " _Change—Super Hand!_ " His gauntlets reverted to their original silver form, and his jump took him into a head-on collision, outstretched fist first, with the circling ship; he punched straight through the armoured 'windshield', the shockwave generated by the full force of his inhuman strength just about disintegrating the alien pilot, travelling back through the ship and blasting a hole out the back.

As he clung to the wrecked vessel, he heard a faint snatch of words through the ship's damaged intercom. " _Analysed—force: 300 tons—divert shield power to forward shields, will be adequate—"_

He chuckled. "Found a way to stop my 300-ton punch, eh?" He leapt off the ship, pushing away and launching himself at its nearest companion. "Try 500!" One leg straightened, locking in place as he formed the practiced Shaolin pose with his arms, allowing his energy to flow freely down his body.

He flew straight at the front of the ship, watching as the pilot merely accelerated. _Trying to smash me aside with that focused front shield, probably…all right, I accept your challenge! Let's see who's stronger._

" _Super Rider—_ " He was inches from the ship, the force field was crumbling around him, the pilot's eyes were wide with panic.

"— _Zenkou—KICK!_ " He was through and out the other side; there was a brief silence, then the ship gave a rumble, splitting cleanly in two behind him, wires trailing from the severed halves.

Unfortunately, he was now drifting with no means of propulsion. The remaining fighters pulled back into formation, angling towards him; they'd evidently realised that he was the primary threat, whereas his ship wasn't going anywhere.

 _Should probably switch back to Elec Hand, they're keeping their distance…damn…I think I've hit my limit…_ They wouldn't have any problem hitting him from this position, and his armoured body wouldn't hold forever.

He braced himself to exchange shots with them once more—but was interrupted by a sequence of events even he found hard to believe.

Even more than Ryo, Oki Kazuya had seen a lot. He was, after all, a government cyborg currently engaged in a one-man space dogfight. The sight of an enormous robotic dragon swooping in and laying waste to the remaining eight Badan fighters with a wave of electric bolts from its mouth, however, was more than enough to throw him.

As if to clarify this confusion, the silver-armoured man standing atop the dragon's head struck a pose, declaring his identity across all comms channels. "Space Sheriff—Gavan!"

This succeeded in clearing up absolutely nothing at all.

After retrieving the drifting Super-1, Gavan's ship—which the dragon had detached from for the battle, and formed about half of—docked with theirs and everyone was brought aboard.

"Keep an eye on the scanners, Mimi," Gavan called over to the ship's pilot, jogging onto the bridge to join them. "There might be a second wave."

She gave a thumbs-up. "I ran a scan on the Earth ship already. If we had a few engineers it wouldn't take long to fix, but there's nothing we can do for it right now."

Gavan's armour shimmered for a moment, dissolving into a pale, scattering mist, revealing a friendly, ever-so-slightly vacant face. He gave Super-1 a firm handshake as the latter became Kazuya once more.

"You're from Earth, then?" he said, a little too loud, smiling broadly. "I was stationed there just a couple years back…well, actually it turned into a long stay, I only left last year. Fighting the Makuu, helping Sharivan settle in, hunting Fuuma through space…and now this Badan business. It's been just about non-stop for me, haha…"

Mimi coughed. "Gavan, they don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Ryo nodded. "Well…we know Badan, in any case. They…" He decided he didn't need to be dispensing his life story to everyone he met. "…made an attempt on Earth, six months ago."

"And you fended them off, did you?"

"Not just the four of us, but yes."

"Excellent work there! Badan are no joke…I can see how you might do it, though," Gavan continued, strolling past them. "That there," he nodded to Amazon, "and what you just took off," to Kazuya, "…well, I didn't realise Earth had access to combat suits like ours."

"It's, not a suit," Kazuya said offhandedly. "In one way or another, we're all 'modified humans'."

"This is sounding familiar…" Gavan stroked his chin. "Mimi, weren't there stories on Earth, about people like this? Urban legends?"

She nodded. "Really, Gavan, your memory…'Kamen Rider', wasn't it?"

"That'd be us," Shigeru muttered, casting a distasteful gaze around the bridge. "Can we get to who _you_ are already? N'if you could tell us anything about Badan, that'd be just great," he added, making no attempt to hide his impatience or his sarcasm.

"Of course, of course!" Gavan laughed, his indifference to the mild hostility only serving to further annoy Shigeru. "Like I said, I'm Space Sheriff Gavan, of the Galactic Police. You all seem like fine, upstanding characters, so you have nothing to fear from me."

Shigeru chuckled. "As if we'd have anything to fear from you anyway…"

"Don't get cocky," Ryo sighed.

Shigeru shrugged. "It's more fun that way."

Ryo turned back to Gavan. "Anyway…you're after Badan?"

"Mimi and I are, yes…well, the whole force to be honest." Gavan scratched his head. "Today was the first time I've caught sight of them in weeks…they don't usually show themselves this easily. They must really hate you."

"Do they ever," Kazuya laughed.

"Well, you did deny them conquest of a planet."

"More than that…their Great Leader…" Kazuya hopped up onto a bulkhead. "…wasn't just behind Badan. Shocker, Destron, the Government of Darkness, Gedon, Black Satan, the Delza Army—and that's just what we know for sure. Other groups, like Garanda, Neoshocker and Dogma, might have been him too, or splinter groups of his organisations. Every time he's defeated, his scheme evolves and finds new life…Badan is just his biggest project to date, since evidently Earth was only one branch of it."

"Look, we're in a hurry," Ryo cut in. "Could you set a course before we continue? Then we'll catch you up on what they were doing on Earth."

Gavan nodded. "Sounds reasonable. Mimi—"

"Already downloaded the co-ordinates from their computer," the pilot sighed. "And sent a message to the fleet; someone will come and repair their ship, and we can pick it up on the way back."

"Uh…thank you!" Kazuya gave a sudden bow, relief washing over him; it hadn't even yet fully sunk in that his precious ship had been so heavily damaged, between everything that had happened.

"Also requested reinforcements to meet us at the co-ordinates, given that this is the first real lead on Badan we've had," she finished. "And…course set."

" _Our attack was repulsed…and now the Earthlings are working with the Galactic Police."_

" _And what of it? Those weak fools were almost destroyed by a pathetic foe like Fuuma…they are no threat to us. How close are they?"_

" _But a handful of light-years now."_

" _Feh. Hasten the preparations. And prepare a welcome for them."_

The trip was much faster in Gavan's ship, and within three hours they were entering the target system—in which time, they'd filled him in on both their various encounters with the Great Leader's forces, and Miasma's attack that had triggered this latest development.

As they closed in on the planet where the trail ended, Mimi powered up the weapons systems, Gavan headed to his vehicle bay, and the four Riders mounted their bikes and waited by the exit hatch. There was continuous turbulence—they were flying right down through a sandstorm.

" _Don't let your guard down,"_ came Mimi's voice over the intercom. " _Assume that the planet will be entirely Badan-controlled."_

"Right." Ryo turned to Amazon. "You okay? You haven't been speaking much…"

Amazon's condition hadn't improved—he was now twitching every few seconds, and he was evidently having to remind himself not to grip his handlebars so hard he crushed them. "Until I get it back…stay out of my way," was all he would say.

"O…Okay…"

Abruptly, the ship shook with a string of impacts. _"Surface-to-air turrets!"_ Mimi shouted. _"Going to have to pull up in under a minute, no time to land. This city is the source of the signal…current altitude, two thousand feet. Can you make that kind of drop?"_

Shigeru's face lit up. " _Now_ we're talking! Pop that hatch!"

Kazuya winced. "If we circled back around we could find a—"

"DO IT!" Amazon roared, his voice easily overpowering the snarl of his engine.

There was no more debate. The hatch slid open, four engines bellowed in unison, and four figures sailed out into the storm.

* * *

 _To clarify on my statement at the start of the chapter: This arc will mostly focus on these characters, though others will definitely make appearances by the end. I'm planning on completing at least that. If I do a second arc, it'll be a much shorter one mostly about V3, X and maybe Stronger again, which will lead directly into a third which will be a culmination of everything in Dragon Road so far and be a big ensemble-cast thing._

 _If there are any more storylines after that, Black will make an appearance (and I already know what that storyline would be), and if that happens, RX almost certainly will too._


	3. Chapter 3: Burning Wind

**Chapter 3: Burning Wind**

" _How long now?"_

"Mere moments, sir." Miasma knelt by an altar; a great metal eye, from which the other voice emanated, was set into the wall, the Badan emblem emblazoned above it. On the other side of the cavernous chamber, the united halves of Amazon's armlet hovered, surrounded by arcs of green energy; slowly, an enormous stone gateway was materialising around it, fading in and out of existence, gradually becoming more solid.

" _And your pursuers?"_

She gave a short bark of a laugh. "Our anti-air defences are keeping them at bay. They won't be able to get lower than a few thousand feet…there's no chance of—"

Her wrist-mounted monitor beeped, her gaze flickering down to it; a ripple of shock passed over her face. Four heat signatures had detached from the beleaguered ship and were on course to land in the outskirts of the city.

"Fools…" she muttered. "From that height…through a sandstorm, with our cannons on them—"

" _Do not underestimate them!"_ the voice of the altar thundered. _"That is how we lost Earth! These humans are not normal, and neither are their vehicles."_

"Y-Yes, Great Leader." Giving a quick bow, Miasma stepped up and away, pointing to the pair of black-clad, helmeted soldiers by the door. "Reinforce that sector!"

The guards saluted in unison, sweeping out of the room.

" _Miasma…"_ the Great Leader rumbled. _"If the ceremony is disrupted…"_

"I understand," she hissed. "It will not happen."

* * *

The barricades around the city's edge were made of the strongest metal alloys Badan could gather from around the universe, forged by the most masterful blacksmiths among the stars, and welded together with painstaking care to achieve maximum structural strength.

They tore apart like paper under the impact of four augmented bodies, and the four weaponised machines that carried them.

Without missing a beat, carving great rents into the street with their landing, the four intruders angled themselves for the city centre—the source of the signal—and drove on.

Initially, resistance was light—the city was large, and Badan's troops had been thinly spread. The first squad, they simply drove through, smashing them aside or breaking them beneath their relentless wheels.

When they reached a main street, though, soldiers began pouring like ants from the space-age-styled buildings, swarming down the street towards them, brandishing an insane assortment of weapons—for every trooper that hefted a laser rifle, another brandished a sword or merely raised cybernetically-enhanced fists.

Ryo shouted to his partners over the combined roar of their bikes and the approaching platoon. "If we make for one of the side-roads, we can avoid the bulk of—"

Letting out a primal battle-cry, Amazon revved his engine and shot straight for the centre of the incoming mass of enemies. Ryo shook his head, sighing. "…or not." _He's really starting to go into…withdrawal, I guess? Whatever you call it, he's not thinking straight._

Amazon waited until he was less than a metre from his foes before launching himself off his bike, letting it continue its forward motion and plough into their front rank while he landed on all fours in their midst, tackling one as he did so and biting into its neck, chewing through flesh and wires in equal measure.

He rose, howling, the spines on his back rising and falling with each breath, a volley of shots glancing off his body in a shower of sparks.

He drew in both bladed arms for a moment, before turning a full circle and lashing out—" _Dai-Setzudan!_ " In one clean motion, every Badan soldier within arm's reach was bisected, the rest stumbling back with cries of surprise.

"He's fine," Shigeru called, slapping Ryo on the back. "Let's go! Get his thing back, stop Badan doing…whatever it is."

Kazuya nodded. "He's right—come on."

"Right." Ryo turned away, following the other two down an alley. _So fierce…_ He tightened his grip on the handlebars.

They exited the alley, their destination now becoming obvious—the enormous building at the centre could be nothing but a palace, and for the capital city of Badan's capital world, it was suitably impressive.

They swerved to a halt at the bottom of the huge staircase leading up to the entrance. The double-doors were thrown open, and Miasma stood glaring down at them. "You're here early…"

"Return what you took!" Ryo yelled.

She snorted. "Come and get it." She snapped her fingers, and a hulking figure of metal and trailing cables appeared at her side. "I'll the complete final preparations…dispose of them!"

The robot leapt down the stairs in a single bound, barging Shigeru to the ground, before turning and snatching up Ryo, tossing him away—he hissed in pain as the red-hot metal on its hands burned on contact. _It moves fast…!_

Something snarled behind it—Kazuya had remounted and was driving his bike full-force into the metal beast. It grunted, digging in its heels and holding him back. "Go!" he shouted. "Get inside!"

Ryo didn't waste time asking if he could handle it; he nodded a silent thanks and rushed up the steps, Shigeru right behind him.

The robot reached down with its steaming hands, exposed pistons hammering away as it smacked the bike to the ground—Kazuya, however, was already gone, standing a few feet to the left.

"You're fast, for sure," he said, smiling a little, "but only in one sense. Like a sprinter—one-directional movement." It lunged at him, and he dodged, almost casually. "There's no agility…your movements are easy to read." He waited for it to take another step forwards, then ducked in, grabbing hold of a cable hanging from its back, throwing his weight against its remaining supporting leg and tugging hard, flipping it over and dumping it on the ground.

He jumped back, taking a combat stance. "For a student of my planet's greatest style—the Sekishin Shaolin Fist—countering you couldn't be easier. Come!"

* * *

Ryo and Shigeru skidded into the marble-lined portal chamber just as the energy build-up reached a crescendo; the next moment, it died down, the emerald light fading completely, the gateway fully solid.

Miasma walked up to it, almost reverently, running a gloved hand down the cold stone. "Dragon Road…lies beyond…" she whispered.

"And what the hell is a Dragon Road?" Shigeru called out.

Her head whipped around, eyes narrowing behind the goggles. "You humans…I'm starting to get tired of you." She shrugged, effortlessly pushing open the enormous gates, revealing a swirling, formless maelstrom beyond. "Well, you're not my concern anymore. _This_ is.

"Dragon Road was an experiment of the Great Leader's. An energy pathway, formed of his very essence, that, when allowed to completely encircle a planet, will transform it into an enormous power battery for our empire. Unfortunately…" She glanced at the portal. "…the first time he tried, he used too much energy. The test planet burned a hole through the fabric of the universe, and became its own pocket-dimension.

"And worse, it left him severely weakened. But if I can break the seal around that world…the Great Leader can be restored to his full strength!"

Shigeru sighed. "Let me guess: And then there will be no force in the universe that can stop you, you'll reign supreme, all will cower before you, and so on and so on?"

She grinned. "Exactly. And _then_ we will build the _true_ Dragon Road across every planet in this universe!" She paused, remembering herself. "But for now you'll have to excuse me, I have some cleaning up to do…the pocket dimension keeps giving rise to strange beings…the Delza Army, the Makuu…"

"Delza…!" Shigeru muttered, giving an involuntary shudder. _Yuriko…_ His eyes snapped up to the portal. "So that's their homeworld?"

"Farewell, humans!" Miasma finished, snatching up the hovering armlet. "I'll be taking—"

A shadow detached itself from the ceiling, flashing past her—Amazon, blood-caked, landing beside her with a two-handed grip on his lifeline. "Give…!" he growled.

"Disgusting creature…" She hauled back on the contested object, planting a boot on his head and kicking away, sending him tumbling back into the wall—but his grip hadn't given an inch, and half the armlet came away in his hands, leaving her with the other half.

Ryo and Shigeru started for her, and she whirled, extending two fingers and firing off twin bolts of red lightning, the Riders diving out of the way; she took the opening and vanished into the portal.

"So, I kept pulling things out until it stopped moving," came Kazuya's voice as he strolled into the chamber, Gavan at his side. "In case anyone was wondering."

"There's a city's worth of Badan reinforcements inbound, and a planet's worth a few minutes after that," Gavan reminded them. "What's our next move?"

"To summarise," Shigeru said, indicating the portal, "Miasma's in there, doing a Bad Thing, and we should hurry and get after her."

Kazuya turned to Gavan. "Let the four of us handle this part. But we'll need a way out…can you defend the portal?"

"Not indefinitely…" Gavan rubbed his head. "But with Mimi providing air cover…I can buy you some time, for sure."

"Do your best." This voice came from the corner of the room—Amazon strode out of the shadows, armlet in place, back in human form, new vitality flowing through him. "Counting on you."

"Consider it done." Gavan gave a miniature salute. "It's been an honour, gentlemen."

The Riders turned and faced the portal, standing in line and each extending one arm—outside, the remote-control functions on their bikes activated, the four vehicles racing up the steps. They mounted up once more, and one after the other vanished into the vortex beyond the gate.

Gavan watched for only a moment before tapping his earpiece. "Mimi, sitrep?"

" _We've got a platoon three minutes out west—a few tanks in their battle-line, too. Squad of heavier cyborgs from the south…and a few fighters closing in overhead. Nothing else within fifteen minutes."_

He considered for a moment. "All right…I'll take the heavies, you get those fighters; whoever finishes first can have the tanks."

" _Got it."_

He jogged out to the steps and bounded down them, soon sighting his first targets—the ragged group was staying low, dashing from cover to cover. He warmed up for a couple of seconds, before raising his hand to the sky. " _Jouchaku!_ "

At the command phrase, a cloud of silvery particles was emitted from the ship Mimi was currently piloting, beaming down to him and enveloping his body, forming into his combat suit. The electronic 'eyes' on his visor lighting up, he jumped up onto a nearby parked vehicle, pointing to the nearest cyborg. "Enough creeping around, you! Let's go!"

The mechanical beast gave a grating screech, bolts of energy leaping from its eyes. Somersaulting over them, Gavan leapt to the attack.

* * *

Makuu Space—the former planet now encircled in Dragon Road—took a while to settle into material form, finally forming a rough, rocky surface beneath the four Riders. The landscape stretched on to the horizon, rising and falling randomly, sheer cliff faces, massive spikes of land, wild patches of alien flora. Some sort of fluorescent stones were embedded in the ground everywhere, providing light to the sunless world—and, incredibly, a few hundred metres overhead, miniature planets hung in the air, slowly drifting along in complete defiance of the normal laws of physics.

Kazuya broke the silence, humming tunelessly; their trance lifted.

Shigeru stepped forward, hopping up on a boulder and scanning the landscape. "I don't see anybody…how are we gonna follow her?"

"Wait." Amazon held up a hand, leaning down close to the ground, falling silent for a moment before standing, his nose twitching. "That way." He pointed to their left, across a gaping ravine.

"Right…she can fly…" Ryo sighed. "Can we jump that?"

"Probably not," Shigeru admitted. "Let's head along the edge, look for a place we can cross." He gunned his engine, setting off across the uneven terrain, the others following shortly.

"Does this seem…a little crazy to anyone?" Ryo asked, a few minutes into the drive.

Kazuya laughed. "I know what you mean, but…not really, no."

Amazon shrugged. "Seen demons. Seen aliens. Seen robots."

"I mean, I suppose we did just fly halfway across the universe and then enter another dimension entirely," Shigeru mused. "So that's new, I guess. But…you get used to weirdness."

Ryo smiled. "I hope so."

Kazuya gave a chuckle. "Ah, and I was fitting the wide-eyed innocent role so well…now you've gone and stolen it from me."

"Okay, okay, I'll do my best to become a jaded old man like the rest of you," Ryo laughed.

Shigeru raised a cautioning finger. "Hey now. Even Hongo—Rider #1—is still thirty-one. We're not 'old'…" He raised his head to the stars. "We'll be around for a good long while."

It took Kazuya a few seconds to reply; the words really resonated with him for some reason. But he couldn't resist. "What, no 'watch it, this old man will kick your ass' or something?"

"Hey, I can be serious!" Shigeru protested, before grinning. "Besides, that's just a given."

Ryo returned the expression. "Come try me any time, old man."

* * *

 _So yeah, basically I'm trying to do some 'tidying up' of the continuity. By saying that Makuu Space from Gavan is also the place the Delza Army's 'cyber-demons' originated; and coming up with a backstory for said dimension (a previously-normal planet warped by an unsuccessful test of the Great Leader's 'Dragon Road' superweapon)._


End file.
